1988: A Dallas judge sentences the killer of two gay men to 30 years in prison instead of a life sentence because, as he later tells the Dallas Times Herald, “I don’t much care for queers cruising the streets.” The Dallas Gay Alliance joins political leaders across the country in protesting the judge’s decision

1983: A Federal judge concludes that the First National Bank of Louisville did not practice wrongful discrimination – or violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion – when it ordered one of its employees, Samuel Dorr, to either give up his position with gay Catholic group, Dignity, or resign from the bank

1998: In the U.S. state of Texas, John Lawrence and Tyrone Garner are fined US$125 each after being arrested for having sex in their home. They refuse to pay the fine, resulting in a challenge of the Texas sodomy law which would eventually lead to the 2003 nationwide repeal of sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas

1824: The Marquis de Custine is beaten and left for dead after propositioning a male soldier in Saint-Denis. The scandal forces him out of the closet, but he recovers and lives the rest of his life as an open ‘sodomite’ with his partner Edward St. Barbe. Custine maintains a successful social life in Paris

1970: Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter host the United Kingdom’s first Gay Liberation Front meeting at the London School of Economics. 1982: Jerry Falwell and National Gay Task Force director Virginia Apuzzo debate gay rights on the Donahue show. 1987: Over 600 lesbians, gay men, and supporters are arrested on the steps of the U.S. [&hellip

1971: NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs recommends repealing law that prohibits homosexuals from being employed in or frequenting the city’s bars, cabarets and dance halls. 1998: Matthew Shepard dies from his injuries sustained in a brutal attack just six days earlier